Odyssey Academy 8th Grade Visits Washington D.C.
Tuesday, June 15, 2010 at 9:31AM 
One month ago marked the beginning of a new tradition for Odyssey Academy and a milestone for the 2009 – 2010 eighth grade class, it was the first school trip to Washington D.C. Blake Gonzales, a budding history aficionado, put the wheels in motion when he spoke to his teacher Kristle Bryan about visiting the city they would spend their entire eighth grade year studying.
Ms. Bryan wanted to make this trip a reality for her students and worked over 60 hours of her personal time planning and fundraising with the students.
“So many of my students see no connection and no importance to what we are learning out of books and discussing in class because many of them have never been out of the Houston area, or have been out of Texas,” Kristle Bryan said. “They see no point in learning things they think they will never experience.”
Together Ms. Bryan and students organized and facilitated fundraisers like car washes, bake sales, and spaghetti dinners. They also hosted a “kid’s night in” which consisted of pizza dinner, video games, and movies. Ms. Bryan also sought out sponsors to help foot the cost of the trip.
“My whole family helped me to get there,” Johnny Rodriguez said. “They wanted me to get out of Texas and see everything that is out there to see.”
All of the hard work done by Ms. Bryan, her students, and their families paid off, and they were able to raise over $30,000 to pay for the trip. If a student wanted to go and they had participated in the fundraising events, they were able to go regardless of the amount of money they individually raised or were able to pay. It was important that money should not stand in the way of a great opportunity.
The journey to D.C. began as the students piled on the charter bus, buzzing with excitement and the anticipation of going on such a momentous adventure. The trip was a full 6 days packed to the brim with sightseeing.
“Next time we need a little more down time at the hotel,” Bobby Markle (Odyssey Academy's Dean of Students) said after retrospection of the trip. “Maybe we do the same things, but spread it out over a few more days, we were all exhausted.”
One of the most significant sites they visited was the Arlington National Cemetery. Four million people visit each year in order to walk among the rows of headstones that mark pivotal occasions in American history.
Odyssey Academy students were given a rare chance to honor and remember our nation’s heroes. While there, they also viewed the Challenger Memorial and Changing of the Guard at the Tomb of the Unknown Solider, which is guarded 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, in any weather, with all honors all of the unidentified soldiers fallen during service to America.
Students then visited Ford’s Theater, the place where President Abraham Lincoln was shot, and afterward, the Peterson House, where President Lincoln was taken and died hours later. At Ford’s Theater, students were able to hear the Oyster Orators, a group of students who each spoke passionately about an issue they feel students have the chance to change. The Peterson House is now a museum recreating the scene of those final hours of the President’s life.
“It took seeing it in real life for it to sink in,” Ms. Bryan said. “The bed, well the whole house really, was so small that they had to turn President Lincoln on the bed diagonally for his large frame to fit.”
The tragedy of the 9/11 terrorist attacks is something which occurred very early in most of the students lifetimes. They were each able to see firsthand, the recently opened memorial honoring the victims of the Pentagon. Walking amongst the stone and concrete of the memorial brought a sense of reality to something vague and in their history text books. It was a moment where they stood next to the impact of the event and understood how it reached them.
Many people might focus on the gruesome details and heartrending pictures of the National Holocaust Museum of unknown struggle, defeat, heartache, loss, destruction and they might miss the messages of salvation, hope, and brotherhood. Odyssey Academy students took in the sights, sounds, and smells connected to the massive act of genocide and came away sobered, thoughtful and full of questions.
“Washington D.C. was awesome,” 8th grader Arthur Ruiz said. “I was really interested in the National Holocaust Museum because it taught me the value of life.”
No trip to D.C. would be complete with visiting the White House, Supreme Court, or the Library of Congress. Students explored these buildings and even caught a lecture at the Supreme Court.
“We had several seasoned tour guides stop our tour guide, myself, or another chaperone to tell us just how amazed they were with the conduct of our kids,” Ms. Bryan said. “I was proud of my students on the trip. They took everything in and conducted themselves with respect for their surroundings.”
The students were overwhelmed with actually being at the epicenter of so much historical and modern milestones in American history and current development of America. This trip, an important event for Odyssey Academy and it’s students, the first trip for many out of Texas, has fiercely motivated the students and teachers to make the trip happen every academic year.
“I liked the trip because I got to learn about a lot of things I just didn’t know, like about George Washington and his home,” 8th grader Alan Aguirre said. “I think that eighth grade should take this trip every year, it's important.”